Friday, April 24, I970

SCARLET AND BLACK

 

The Nature of a Liberal Educaiion

Development-

By H. G. Apostle

pleasures may be intellectual
or ethical (which includes those
01‘ the senses) and they are
present in tile corresponding
activities. those oi the mind alld
those which originate irom
character Since both kinds of
pleasures are desirable for
happiness in thc iullest sense,
both were included in our
definition of a liberal education.
Hence.aneducationwhichleaves
out the discussion of character,
at necessity leaves out any cone
sidcration of the corresponding
habits whose attainment or
possession adds considerably to
one's happiness.

Most college catalogues in
elude the development oi
character as part of the aim of
a liberal education, but a course
requirement on character is
something one hardly mentions,
especially in non~Catholic
colleges. Perhaps there are
reasonsforthis,historicalaswell
as argumentative. Historically,
the desire to aVOld religious per-
secution taught Americans to
respect each other‘s iaith, and
'since ethical values are
somewhat lied up with religion
or are analogues, these too
became somewhat a personal
matter, as long as they did not
conilict with the law, Thus,
theoretically speaking, the
principles oi moral behavior
became personal and “nor-
mative” rather than matters oi
tact and science, though irom the
practical point oi view one's
success tespeciaiiy material
successt depended on some core
at expected behavior.

Moreover, in recent centuries,
thcrc has been a tendency on the
part or various thinkers to coir
sider ethical judgments as
concerned not with matters of
fact but with values, whether
subjective or objective, The \ierv
iiiabiiity in the natural sciences
was visible and relatively easy,
that ill ethics w s eluSive; and
.thc natural sciences had shown
a reinarkablc objectivc progress,
both theoretical and practical,
while ethics and other allied
disciplines seemed to have
stagnatcd with "the same old
pi-oble . So as the prestige oi
the natural sciences was gaining.
that or ethics was relatively
waning In iact, ethics ior maiiy
thinkers was devoid or any
scientific validity. Bertrand
Russell told me in 1937 tllat he
considered morality as nothing
more than a matter oi pcrsonal
wish.

But is morality just a matter
oi personal wish’t II it were, then
approrai and disapproval would
always be a matter oi personal
Wish: and any set of habits would
yield statistically the same
amount oi happiness as any other
set, ,Even the pursuit oi
knowledgc. which is ultimately
a matter oi personal wish, would
hello better than ignorance. For
if one admits that certain 33.
livitics and habits make a man
beitcr or happier. then he has
admitted a statement of fact. but
if he denies the existence of such
a statement. then he dcnlcs a
statistical positive correlation
.and so admits a statistical close

of Charac’rer

to-zcro correlation. But it is a
tact lhfll Ul‘ullkarus and
lhicies and murder»
crs and bores and liars
and the irresponsible and thc
unlriendiy and the uiisocial are
not candidates ior happllicss in
the fullest sense: and the harm
tlley cause to others cannot be
denied. for which reasons we
have laws, And ii laws are passed
not lor the sake or promoting
happiness, then ior what other
reason do we have them? That
some laws are bad and can be
improved is admitted; but the
alternative to laws is no laws,
and in general, no laws are worse
than bad laws

Again, those who consider
morality as a personal matter or
devoid of factual content do not
hesitate to make other
statements and periorm acts
which are contrary to their ideas
on morality. Students who regard
morality as personal will have

Contemporary Conceri' Features Clarine’r

' Part 5
is Discussed

Ioadnlit,asaiact,ttizlt"pcrsonal
morality is better than imposed
morality". which indicates that
there is a way to a happier lite,
and the same students will not
iiesitate to parade against the
Vietnam War and pollution and
the Negro piigiit and social
justice and other such issues.
regarding their cause as more
than just personal. Bertrand
Russell himself did not hesitate
to condemn the United States and
Great Britain and RuSSia for
alleged unjust acts, acts which
he regarded as being objectively
anduniversallybad.

One must admit that ethics is
not so accurate as mathematics,
ior ethical subject matter is
qualitative and not quantitative,
and it is more complex than
mathematical subject matter,
Further, quality cannot be
reduced to quantity, although

LIBERAL EDUCATION——
Continued on page 4

Page Three

S&B Reporter Lamenis The
Passing of the Old Senate

iiy Toni Greeiiiiciti

i thought I would dedicate the
iii-st part oi my coiuinii to a sell.
indulgclit lamentation ot' the
difficulties wllicll thrust theme
selves upon my weekly eiiorts. I
tool that it is not improper to
attempt such all undertaking in
the sat; My deicnses ior this
action are two: 1) Such a column
is not unprecedented, in one way
or another, John Nigel Pepper
gripes about his job just about
every other week, 2) I accidents
aiiy slept through the iinal hour
and fifteen minutes of the Senate
meeting. While l coniess that
such insolence ls inexcusable,
my penitence docs not alter the
fact .lltal I am obligated to
produce a iair amount at copy
every week

With my autographed copy oi
Dale HaWn's work eiilciency
sheet at my side, 1 shall now
petition your sympathy ior my
plight.

The change oi personalities

Quartet Satire. Audience Pariicipa’rion

By Carla Coiiey

Those of you who missed
the concert Friday, April 10th
missed one of the most enjoyable
contemporary concere oi the
year, Billed as “The Quiet
Concert," the hour of clarinet
music was periormed in the
Arena Theatre, which turned out
to be an accoustically flattering
recital hall The periormers
were Paul Zonn, diree at his
clarinet students, Micaei
Humphrey, Sherry Mayrent and
Karen Reese-and baritone soloist
Floyd Slotterback,

The concert began with a
clarinetsolo written by Lehmann
and performed by Mr. Zonn. The
piece, entitled "Mosaik," was an
excellent work with which to
begin the periormance, as it was
one oi the first works to explore
new sounds in clarinet technique;
sounds such as multiple stops and
flutter tonguing. “Mosaik” was
followed by Stravinsky’s “In
Memoriam J F.K,” This serial
work for clarinet trio and
baritone soloist lasted a mere
rninute. Since the pertormers felt
that during rehearsals they had
liked it better each time it was
played, me work was repeated
three times during the evening
with the quality oi periormance
improving with each repetition,

The next work on the program
was a composition entitled
“Screaming Monkeys” by
Stephen Syverud. Since it is often
very difficult to concentrate on
electronic music with nothing on
stage to focus one’s attention
upon, Mr. Zonn passed out
crayons to the members oi the
audience and asked them to draw
their reactions to what they
heard on the back of their
programs, Needless to say, this
proved to be the highlight oi
expressiveness ior the members
of the audience.

The next piece on the program
” tevolutions” was followed by a
Karlins piece “Graphic Mobile."
This composition is of the treest
type oi music. There are no
notes, The periormei-s are given
only ideas and gestures and

shapes, probably much like some
of the ideas which were drawn
out on the back of the programs
during the Syverud piece. This
performance, therefore, was only
one oi a iniinite number oi pen
formances of the same work. In
this case, Mr. Zonn stood on one
side of the stage and three
clarinetists stood on the other.
The contrast between the group
and the solo created what might
be considered a contemporary
concerto effect. Some beautifully
dissonant harmonies came out of
the chance cues to the group,
while Mr. Zonn unified the work
by playing a steady solo line.
The sixth piece on the program
was an old work at Mr, Zunn's,
written in 1956 for Clarinet
Quartet. His style of composition

Student Protesters March to

has changed radically over the
years, but certain characteristics
in his present day compositions
could be recognized in a modified
form.

The last work performed was
Mr. Zonn's idea of a satire on
women's liberation. He felt.
compelled to include a token
woman composer on the program
and the dubious honor fell to
Chamlnade and her Dance
Creole.” The 1933 composition
included all of the bothersome
frills and romantic cliches that
incurable romantics choose to
use.

Even though the concert
consisted almost entirely oi
music for Clarinets, there was a

CONCERT—

Continued on page 7

irom the Old Scliate to the new
senate has madc my job iar more
diiiieult. ti hope that this public
St'itcinent will dispel the widely
circulated. unfair criticism that
the new Senate has had no effect
on anyone‘s liie whatsoevem
Unlike their predecessors, the
new Senators are a group or
liighiy sensitive, “together"
public students. The way they
look at each other timori'lusly and
needt'ully out of the corner of
their eyes beiore each hand vote.
reveals that they have a strong
desire for unity and an admirable
respect ior each other’s ability to
have opinions,

Such tight human bondages are
‘serious business and should not
be subjected to the pueriie
assaults oi iiippant journalists,
As a pueriie, ilippantjournaiist,l
run the risk oi disrupting this
bondage and making the
Senators feel badly about
themselves, (This was never a
problem with the old Senate You
couldn't make them feel bad if
you poisoned their water.)

With a full understanding of my
responsibility to the preservation
of this delicate human relation~
ship, i shall now begin a report on
the second meeting of the Glass
Menagerie, 9:30-10:30.

The meeting began cheeriully
enough. Greg Vraniear was
approved as Student Co-ordina-
tor, Lists of Hall President win-
ricrs were announced, and Golda
owass appeared to be in the best
of health.

Greg announced that the Drug
Center Crisis Committee will
probably have a proposal ready
by the end ol the year, although
no possibility exlSLs ior estab-
lishing the center this semester
Grcg said that the committee has
been receiving proiessional guide
aiice irom Dr, Ferguson Parish
rang. the chief drug advisor and
aims Clinic director for the Cull
Scouts in Sausalito.

Tim Bohan yelled at the Senate

SENATE—
Continued on page 4

Des Moines;

 

Spend Night in Mitchellville Church

iiy Tom Cccli

Two weeks agc iiiteen people
irom Gl‘iiinell College walked
titty miles to Des Moines, site of a
$50— plate Republican dinner at
winch Vicc president Agnew
spoke. The purpose oi the mareii
was to center attention on the
continuing Vietnam War and the
national priorities that have
iresulted The group spent the
second night oi the threeday
march in Mitcliellville, a rural
community oi iewcr than 2000
people,

Two oi the churches in Mite
chelvillc decided not to otter the
group a place to spend the night,
but the united Church oi christ
had voted unanimously to accept
the students. This decision
required no small amount of
courage on the part oi the church
members, ior their contact with
college students was very slight
and their Contact with real live
pi-otestoi-s was nil Furthermore,
members at the other churches in
town had warned them that
allon mg such people to spend the
night in their church would he
inviting thc destruction oi the
building. if not the whole town.
“Many oi us expected iorty or
titty radicals coming into town
tl]l‘0\\lllg bricks", exclaimed one

lady.

A pot-luck style dinner was
awaiting the students \\ hell they
a ed at ttie chili-eh, and they
ate lical-tlly with the iorty
townspeople who had brought the
food Afterwards. each Griniicll
student introduced himsclt alld
one member of each Mltchellville
household told a little about
himself and his family.
Everyone was in a jovial mood,
and there was a good deal oi
joking during the introductions.
Thc minister then asked the
Grlnncllians to talk about their
purpose in hiking to Des Moines.
The group had not planned a
speech, which proved to be
iortutnale because it paved the
way ior a natural, Spoilmneous
presentation First. R A.
christiansen thanked the people
ior their hospitality and for the
delicious meal they had
prcpared He then cited some
‘Slalisllcs, showing that ii U. s.
appropriations were used to
replace American property
taxes, we would still spend more
on delelise than the USSR and
China combined. Several other
members ot the Grinncll group.
one at Ll time and without liavltig
to he asked. stood and gave short
cxtcmporancous talks about tllc

war or the hundreds oi Pepsi and
Budweiser cans the group had
gathered along highway 6.
symbolic oi the necessity ol
dircctitig national eiiorts toual'ds
constructive actions.

Later, during small group
discussions, the townspcople told
thr, studclils that they had really
appreciated their presentation oi
iacts rather than sweeping
condciniiatioiis or vague
solutions. These people were to a
9ul'prisingly large degree
isolated irom the outside world,
yet their minds were open and
their sincerity such as is rarely
seen. They had strong opinions
about many issues, yct they were
willing to discuss and rccxamllic
their views

“There are a lot ol good things
ahout this country. , . Why can’t
people talk about the good things
tor a change?”

“I can’t help it, I just don’t like
long hair too inenl."

“I liiilik every boy out ol high
school should spend one or two
years in tiic army No getting out
ot it ior this or that. it sure did
me good."

“We don't even know what's
really going on in Vietnam 7 the
DINNER—

Continued on page 5